992 Posts Found

What used to take weeks of research and strategic planning can now be done in an hour or less, with tools like Site Build It! and others.

Even if you have an existing business, these tools are a great way to identify strengths and weaknesses in both your business and marketing plans. You can even use them to figure out the language to use in your … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Nick Usborne | Source: MarketingProfs | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Marketing / Sales

I never invest in someone who says they’re going to do something; I invest in people who say they’re already doing something and just want funding.

Content: Quotation | Source: Business 2.0 | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Once academic exercises for eggheads, college business-plan contests now offer competitors the chance to win sizeable chunks of cash and launch a business. No surprise: Entrepreneurs have begun to horn in on the action.

See related sidebar, “What Judges Look For” at:
Content: Article | Author: Patrick J. Sauer | Source: Inc. Magazine | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, MBA Related

In the world of venture capital, investors look for deals that will return 10 to 20 times their original investment, although sometimes they do much, much better. Venture capitalists are looking for many things: not only a company that can dominate a business category, but one that will eventually be worth at least a half-billion dollars. And even if an entrepreneur can present a business … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Authors: John Doerr, Steve Harmon | Subject: Entrepreneurship

Every business has a magic number. By employing his, our columnist didn’t overstaff this year.

Content: Article | Author: Norm Brodsky | Source: Inc. Magazine | Subjects: Management, Small Business

The catch-22 that early-stage companies always face is that they must weigh the advantage of time to market against the risk of not building a strong enough foundation. The situation gets played out in almost every decision made: product completeness versus product breadth, distribution strategy, capital structure, geography. Entrepreneurial companies have to fight that trade-off all the time.

Content: Quotation | Source: Fast Company | Subject: Entrepreneurship

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America’s greatest inventor spawned many businesses; in fact his work led to the creation of entire industries. Edison was a prodigious worker, challenger of the status quo and identifier of opportunities. What can todays leaders learn from Edison and how does he rate against our modern criteria for leaders?

Content: Article | Source: Babson Insight | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, People

What if innovation could be made routine-if assembly-line procedures could churn out brilliant ideas on command? O’Connor, the founder of online ad wholesaler DoubleClick and an unremitting entrepreneur, relishes innovative ideas-from a youthful scheme to shock a troublesome raccoon to DVD rentals that self-destruct instead of having to be returned-and offers here a “reproducible” process that will “force innovation” and “improve both the numbers and … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Authors: Kevin O’Connor, Paul B. Brown | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Innovation

How much can venture capitalists protect themselves against losses if an investment goes bad? How much control should entrepreneurs be prepared to give up? What happens to both parties when a new venture succeeds? To successfully tackle the good, bad, and in-between stages of new ventures, writing the appropriate financial contract is key.

Content: Article | Authors: Per Strömberg, Steven N. Kaplan | Source: Capital Ideas | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Mezzanine funds, big players in the mega-mergers of the 1980s, now cast their net in search of smaller growth firms.

Content: Article | Author: Suzanne McGee | Source: Inc. Magazine | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Finance

Accenture research has identified eight critical factors that startups must get right early in their lifecycles and must manage effectively to be successful. That old management adage “Stay focused on two or three things you do well” probably still works for a large, developed organization. But it is too simplistic for a startup. The start up CEO must be vigilant about keeping the entire constellation … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Outlook Journal (Accenture) | Subject: Entrepreneurship

Corporations typically run on annual budget cycles, but new ventures can’t. They need money when they need money-typically, a commitment of funding should come every few months. Those commitments should come only after the venture has reached clearly defined milestones. Poker players will tell you that, in seven-card stud, most of the money is lost on the fourth and fifth cards, as players indulge the … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Context Magazine | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Finance

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Knowledge is power, and knowledge of your company’s value is the ultimate power tool. Here’s what you need to calculate your own magic number.

Editor’s Note: check out the online-only companion to this article, “Priced to Sell” at
Content: Article | Author: Randall Lane | Source: Inc. Magazine | Subjects: Finance, Small Business

Classic entrepreneurs are likely to score high on achievement and autonomy but low on affiliation. They might rank somewhere in the middle on the need for power. Consequently, many entrepreneurs get bored and frustrated and often leave the confines of corporate life-or are moved aside-when their tiny ventures grow into big, bureaucratic businesses.

Content: Quotation | Source: Accenture | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Personality / Behavior

This paper seeks to understand the implications of the recent collapse in venture activity on innovation. It argues that the situation may not be as grim as it initially appears. While there are many reasons for believing that on average venture capital has a powerful impact on innovation, the impact is far from uniform. In particular, during boom periods, the prevalence of over-funding of particular … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Josh Lerner | Sources: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge, Social Science Research Network (SSRN) | Subjects: Innovation, Venture Capital

Entrepreneurship is the relentless pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled.

Content: Quotation | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Entrepreneurship

There’s a lot that can go right and wrong in a business. A lot of it out of your control. But the extent of your personal financial liability for what goes wrong is one thing you can and should control.

Content: Article | Author: Elena Fawkner | Source: ManagerWise | Subject: Small Business

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